School of Brawl
by Muses Yin and Yang
Summary: Link is your average high school student. If average meant you were proficient in the Smash Arts. Along with his friends, Link is ready to begin his high school career in School of Brawl. With bullies, rivals, enemies, new friends, and of course, romance, Link will forge strong bonds with those around him. !Note!: This was written during the time of SmashU! Zelink and other ships.
1. Chapter 1

**Yang: Hello, internet! This is a story I wrote years ago! I've reworked it and fine tuned it, seeing as my writing style has chaned over time. It was your choice to read it.**

**Yin: You know this story is actually one of my favorites.**

**Yang: Oh yeah, just a little author's note, Sheik and Zelda are two separate characters in this story. Therefore you have no reason to ask "But I thought Sheik _is _****Zelda."**

**Yin: Anyways, we hope you enjoy reading this as much as Yang loved writing it.**

**Yang: Well, we won't keep you any longer. Go on ahead!**

—

"Hey, look! It's Link!" I turned, and was suddenly crushed by an unforgiving hug. It was the first day of school. And if you didn't already figure it out, I'm Link. Finally, Pit released me from his merciless embrace. "How was your summer?" I asked him. Pit was one of my best friends. "It was great! Remember when me and you and Sheik all went to see _Black Panther_ together? That was awesome!" You may be hearing a lot about Pit. He's his own favorite subject.  
"It wasn't as cool as me dominating that skateboarding competition," Sheik said as he approached us.  
"That was totally cool," I said with a laugh. Pit snickered, and Sheik gave me one of his famous half-grins. He's not big on full smiles.

I was staring at the huge "School of Brawl" letters painted on the huge banner hanging on the front of the school, when Pit pointed to the entrance of the courtyard and said, "Who's that?"

It was a girl. Long brown hair fell around her shoulders, meeting just between her shoulder blades and forming a braid down the rest of her back. Two long pointed bangs hang down the sides of her face, and a purple headband pulled the rest back, revealing startling blue eyes. They were the same color as mine. As she passed by, she looked right at me and stopped.

She smiled at us and and simply said, "Hello." I felt my face heat up. Why did that happen?

I was able to manage a "Hey," in return. Her smile grew wider.

"My name is Zelda," she said, offering her hand.

"Link," I replied, and we shook hands. I felt a tingling sensation in the places where our palms had met.

"Sheik," Sheik said, giving a small wave. "I'm Pit. It's nice to meet you!" Then I noticed Robin a few feet away, talking with another girl I didn't know.

"What's up, Robin? Long time no see!" I said, calling him over to join the small group that had formed.

"Hi Lucina!" Zelda called. "Come and join us!" After another round of brief introductions, we began to talk about our summers.

"Well, school starts soon. We'd best be heading inside," Lucina pointed out.

As the six of us stepped into the building and promised to meet up again later, Pit leaned in and whispered, "This is going to be the best school year ever."

I watched as Zelda disappeared into her home room. I grinned and said, "I have to agree."


	2. Chapter 2

"As me and Pit walked down the hall, we passed by Marth. He was walking and reading a book at the same time. Typical. Marth was a "straight A student," and never missed the chance to study. Marth turned as I walked by, and gave me a hard stare before returning to his book. I ignored him, slightly confused. Soon, Me and Pit arrived at homeroom. We took our seats next to each other at our desks. A girl with a long blonde ponytail and tall black boots stepped into the classroom. She was tall, and she looked like she was ready to punch someone. She scanned the room briefly, then gave an irritated roll of her icy blue eyes before taking the seat next to Pit. She retrieved an iPhone and a pair of earbuds from her bag, putting only one bud in her left ear.

"Hey there, miss! What's your name?" Pit said. As previously stated, Pit is probably the most social person ever.

She looked at him sideways and said, "What does it matter to you? We've got another six hours of torture before we can go home. Why waste your energy trying to remember people's names?"

"Well, I don't think school is torture, and I only asked for your name."

"If you need to know, it's Samus. Now don't talk to me." She stuffed the other bud into her ear, clearly through talking. I snickered, but quickly silenced myself as our teacher entered the room. There were a few quiet gasps as she walked up to the front of the room. She had a white ruffled shirt with a red collar, and a long black skirt the skimmed the ground. Her hair was the same length of her skirt, coming down to the back of her knees. And it was bright green. Samus took her earbuds out of her ears.

"Good morning, class," she said, and the air almost shimmered with the wisdom in her voice. Her forest green eyes swept across the room, looking over all of the students.

_Hold on. Something's wrong_, I thought. Then I realized the problem.

Pit wasn't talking. He hadn't said a word since Palutena had entered the classroom. Normally, he'd be standing on top of his desk, announcing everything regarding himself. Now, it was if someone had hot-glued his mouth shut.

"I'm Palutena, but you can call me Lady Palutena if you'd like. I'm quite honored to be able to teach this class," our teacher said as she turned to the projector. Pit's mouth stayed calmly shut. As I studied him closer from my chair, I realized that even over this summer, he'd been maturing, but I hadn't noticed. I wondered what those short few months had done for other people.  
"Hey," Samus said, giving Pit a poke. "You were set on talking your mouth off only a couple of seconds ago. What's the holdup?"

"I could say the same for you," I told her. "Were you not just acting like you had nothing to do with the world?" Her response was cut off by Lady Palutena turning on the projector.

"Marth, can you shut off the lights, please?"

"Sure thing, Lady Palutena," Marth said, and flicked the light switch. Instantly the entire room was dimmed. Lady Palutena hoisted herself up onto the front of her desk, crossing one leg over the other, and folding her hands over her knees.

"I could tell you about all of your classes and schedules, but that would be boring. So, I'll start with the major change in your curriculum." She clicked the arrow button on her laptop, and the projector changed photos. There on the wall was our school's logo: A large, glass-like sphere, with vivid rainbow colors splashed across it. One thick, transparent black line sliced through the middle of the orb, and a thinner one cut down from the top to the bottom on the left side.

"Your gym class won't be the kind of class that you're used to," Lady Palutena started. "You are here because you qualified for this certain class. During gym, every day, you will be taught the intense, yet very fun, art of smashing." This was it. The reason why getting into this school was considered nearly impossible.

I don't know how they find it, but apparently the teachers at this school can sense a faint pulse of aura around special people. When the aura is strong enough, the students start going to school here, at "School of Brawl." Everyone at my old school was shocked when Pit, Sheik, and I told them we were attending this school next fall. The three of us were a little confused at why all of our classmates were so stunned. It's not like it was hard to get in. At least, not for us. We were doing what we normally did, when suddenly, BAM! You got invited to the cool kid school. Have fun!

"You all have already found your special abilities, such as using magic, or a sword, or in rare cases, melee combat," Lady Palutena continued. "School of Brawl is where we accept these rare abilities and help you to temper them into useful and enjoyable tools. So, that is all I can say about the basics. But, at the end of this year, to celebrate the beautiful progress that I know each of you students will make, we will have a Smash Tournament. Other than this, your classes will remain normal. Any questions?"

No one raised their hands, and soon the bell rang. As me and Pit passed by Lady Palutena, Pit stopped and said what he hadn't said in the middle of class.

"I'm Pit, and it's a genuine pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," she replied with a smile. "I was quite interested in you when I received your application form. I look forward to seeing great work from you in the future. Now hurry along, you don't want to be late."

"Okay!" Pit said then took off down the hall to ACE. I gave a half shrug to Lady Palutena, then started down the stairs to art.


	3. Chapter 3

I stepped into the art room, and immediately spotted Zelda, Lucina and Robin among the tables and chairs.

"Hey, Link! I saved you a seat," Zelda said, and indicated to the empty chair right beside her. Refusing to let her beauty get the best of me this time, I sat down next to her.

"Me, Robin, and Lucina all have the same home room teacher, Sir Ike."

"Cool. Me and Pit have Palutena," I said.

"Robin and I have all of our classes together," Lucina said.

"Well, I for one _certainly_ don't mind that," Robin cut in. That earned him a smack in the arm from a not too humored Lucina.

"Alright class. I need your eyes up here, and I need quiet so that you can understand the instructions that I give you." With dark chocolate skin, deep brown eyes, and hair that change color at will, there was only one person that the art teacher could be: Camii, a female inkling. Most people just call her Camii, though. She was said to be kind to the kids that are well behaved, but strict on anyone who violates her policies.

"First, we are going to draw, or paint, in our favorite art style. This includes manga and anime style, comic style, abstract art, or still life forms. After that, we'll vote on what color you'd like my hair to be tomorrow. Materials have already been set out for you. AND I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO TOUCH THEM YET." Robin stopped his hand on the way towards the paint. Lucina chuckled, but was quickly silenced by Camii raising her eyebrows quizzically.

"_Now_ you may start working."

All four of us reached for the pencils, plucking one from the yogurt cup serving as a pencil holder. I don't know what it is with art teachers and empty yogurt containers. Without fail, every art teacher I've had uses yogurt cups for water, glue, paint, holding pencils, holding brushes, you name it. I sat back for a moment, thinking about what I should draw. Picking my style was easy; freehand drawing for the win. An idea suddenly popped into my head. I ran my pencil over the paper with ease. Sketching, making lines bolder, erasing, shading, I worked until a scene blossomed onto the white printing paper.

I was unaware of my friends watching me until I heard a voice comment, "Wow! I didn't know you liked that kind of stuff. I'd thought I was the only one until now. That looks great!" I turned my head and jumped. Zelda's face was mere inches from mine as she peered at my drawing. Her hair smelled like coconuts. My sketch was a picture of me and Sheik surprise attacking Pit with a barrage of water balloons. Zelda drew away, smiling her dazzling smile and said,

"Here. You can have a look at mine." The image was of her and Lucina playing poker. The most interesting thing about it was that neither of them had straight faces. In fact, it looked like they were trying hard not to laugh. Robin and Lucina showed us their pictures next. In both drawings, the two of them together were most featured, thought they were with a larger group. Them and a few friends at the mall, them with friends at a volleyball game.

I raised a curious eyebrow at Robin. He smiled and shrugged. There was obviously something going on that he wasn't telling me. After teasing Pit, I would have to come find Robin and press him for details. At that moment, another girl walked up to us. She had long blonde hair (what's with all the blonde?) hanging down her back, and sky clear blue eyes (again, with the blue eyes).

"Hey there. My name's Peach, and no I'm not edible. I was wondering of you could lend me some of your red? The one at my table got a little… Mixed up. As you can see." She said with a chuckle, before indicating to the table at which she sat. The red and the green had been swirled up together, and now resembled some sort of mud color. Two boys with hair the exact shade in color sat arguing quietly with each other over the brown paint.

"You can thank those two for the brand new shade of crap. And, get this: they're trying to decide a _name_ for it. Can you believe it?" She heaved a long sigh.

"As much as I like making new colors, mixing up new types of browns is _not_ on the top of my to-do list. Now, about that red?"

"Well, Miss Peach," Zelda said, reacting first. "Here is the red you are in such great need of."

After being handed the red paint, Peach looked at each of us in turn before smiling again and saying, "I think we should all become friends. High five!" We all hesitated before hitting palms with our new acquaintance, laughing as we did so. After everyone had finished, Camii called our attention to the front of the room again to start the voting. Peach, Zelda, Lucina, Robin, and I all voted for purple.

—

**Yang: So yeah I predicted inkling for smash ultimate, don't get too excited now. I don't know if I'll ever get a proper upload scheduel for these chapters due to my concussion symptoms and school work fluctuating. It's getting towars the end of things' so the workload is picking up. Thanks again for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

After art ended, me and Zelda made our way back to our homeroom classrooms for ELA. Unlike your average high school or middle school, one teacher teaches Language Arts, World Geography, Science, and Mathematics. That meant that for the next period, I wouldn't be seeing Zelda. We parted ways when Zelda entered her own classroom. I'll admit, it was almost difficult watching her go. As I continued down the hall to mine, Pit dashed up to me from behind.

"Ugh! The Villager is _so _annoying. I think copying the 'A' section of the _dictionary_ would be less painful than listening to him teach psychology for 48 minutes"

"Well, if you keep up that attitude in front of Lady Palutena, you will copying the _entire_ dictionary." I responded.

"Well, _I'm_ sure that you'll get more than a few dirty looks hanging around a girl like Zelda all the time," Pit said. Then he whispered, "Do you think that she likes me? Even though she's a teacher? I mean, it's not like I like her back," he said. He sounded completely sincere, and I believed him.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, considering what she said to you earlier."

"How come I knew you would say something like that?" Pit told me and rolled his eyes. "You're no help."

"What? You don't believe me? Just you wait, soon enough, Lady Palutena will ask to 'personally tutor you' about something." I was rewarded with a punch in the arm for my smart comment.

"Oh, it's Link," Marth said as I passed by him. He placed his hand on my shoulder to stop me, so we could talk better.

"You were in art class with Zelda, correct?"

Okay, mood swing. "Yeah, I was. Why do you ask?"

"Do you… Think she's nice?"

This is _not _the Marth that I thought I knew. When had he become so interested in Zelda? I decided to tell him the truth. There was no point in making up something whatsoever.

"Yeah, I do. Who wouldn't? She's really great. And her art skills are off the charts! She won't admit it though," I said. "And she's…" I trailed off. I'd told him more than I had planned to tell.

An emotion flickered across Marth's face. Was that… _Jealousy? _When had Marth ever been jealous of me? It didn't make sense. He gave a nod, then continued down the hall. I just frowned at him like he had dropped from the sky. I know that going from a normal school to School of Smash is life changing, but not to the point that you change yourself completely. My thoughts were interrupted by Lady Palutena calling the class to her attention as me and Pit stepped into the room, quickly taking our seats.

"First, of course, I'm going to announce the writing project that I'm going to assign you. If I could, I really wouldn't give you tests and projects. I'd rather get to know each and every one of you to the point where we could be considered friends." Lady Palutena gave a somewhat pointed look at Pit, who blushed at the attention she was giving him. Then it was my turn to give Pit a pointed look. Some of the other male students, such as Sonic and Lucario, glared at Pit from different places in the classroom.

"Anyways," Lady Palutena said, turning her attention back to the entire class. "This assignment should be easy. Find a topic that you enjoy- a hobby, an activity, a sport- anything really, and explain it using the five non-fiction text structures. Please format this using Book Creator, and be sure to add in visuals. I'll even allow you to Google some things if you're not quite sure how they work. Most of the time spent on this project will be in-class, but feel free to work on this at home if you are able. You may begin working now." Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind.

"Can you help me out? I forgot how to change the font and text size." It was Samus.

"Well, you're in a better mood," I observed.

"Well, ACE is really helpful in terms of morning stress relievers," she said. "Anyways, help me figure this out." I gave my head a little shake in disbelief and began to explain to a now very social Samus the details of Book Creator.

* * *

**Yang: Well gee it's been a while since I last uploaded. Why has it been so long? Well you see, I actually got down to editing THE ENTIRE STORY. That's right, it's all done and ready right now. I can't promise to upload everyday, but I want to try doing that, seeing as I don't have an excuse anymore. Look forward to frequent uploads. Or, don't or whatever. :p**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

My favorite period of the school day? Lunch. After working so long on the ELA project, mapping Hyrule in World Geography, and pronouncing Sacaen greetings in Foreign Languages, I was in much need of a break. Our lunch table consisted of me, Pit, Zelda, Lucina, Robin, Peach, the two twins, whose names were Mario and Luigi, a third year student named Chrom, who was Lucina's older brother, and my younger brother, Toon. For some reason, Chrom was not all that pleased with having Lucina and Robin sitting next to each other. That, I could understand. Being an older sibling myself, I was always looking out for my little brother. Speaking of which, my brother, Toon Link, or just Toon, was a first year, and I a second year. Everyone ate lunch at the same time, because there was enough room in the cafeteria. Lunch break is a great time to socialize and make friends outside of your grade levels and classes. Me and Toon were Selected at the same time, so we got to have our first day of school together. The reason why I didn't catch him this morning was because he had run off to find his friends Kirby and Pikachu. He had promised to meet me during break, and Toon is always one to stick to his word. Zelda once again made a point of sitting next to me. If anything, she sat a little closer to me than the size of the stool suggested. After a few jokes, tall tales, and true stories, I began to get the feeling that I was being watched. I turned around, and sure enough, Marth was once again staring straight at me and Zelda sitting together from across the cafeteria.

"What's up, Link?" Zelda asked. She followed my gaze across the room to where Marth was staring.

"Oh, are you saying hello to Marth? I met him this summer, at camp. He's a really smart guy." She smiled and waved. Marth beamed and waved back. Then Zelda turned back to the conversation and Marth went back to shooting daggers at me with his eyes. _Oh, _I thought. _Marth likes Zelda, too. Wait, what? _I'd confused myself. Who'd said that I liked Zelda in the first place?

"Your drawing was awesome, am I right, Link? Just admit it, even Akira Himekawa would be proud," Zelda said.

"I'm not sure about that," I responded, blushing under her praise.

"Well, I think that you're the best in the school. Even better than me! And I'm sure that Camii agrees. Hey! I've got an idea! Link, could you draw a picture of me? I'll draw one of you. We can bring them in and show each other during art tomorrow. Deal?" She asked, holding out her hand. The same hand I'd shook this morning.

"Sure," I said. When the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, I wondered what I'd gotten myself into. Why was it so hard to say no to her? Well, I guess life does crazy things to you. _Ugh, I need to stop acting like I'm in some sort of movie, _I thought. But I could tell that in school of smash, things get weird enough for it to be just like a movie. I could feel Marth's eyes burning into the back of my neck as Zelda leaned in to tell me about Sir Ike. Something told me that this was going to go unnoticed by Zelda. _At least then, Zelda won't have anything to worry about. _Even so, thoughts threatened to prickled my consciousness all the way to gym. I shook my head and shoved my worries deep into the pockets of my mind.

**Yang: Just so you know, Akira Himekawa is the real life author/artist duo who are writing and drawing the AMAZING LoZ manga series. I 100% recommend it to any Zelda fans. Also I wrote an entire 5 paragraph essay of 1500 words in an hour and a half so yay.**


	6. Chapter 6

Zelda and I parted ways at the entrances to the boys and girls locker rooms. I was in a great mood. Lady Palutena had caught Pit as she walked out of the teacher's lounge, and walked with us to the locker room. Well, she mostly walked with Pit. That gave me and Zelda space to talk with each other, and it gave Lucina and Robin more chances to bicker flirtatiously.

"Don't you think that they're perfect?" Zelda asked and gestured to Lucina and Robin, who were flicking each other back and forth. She sighed.

"I've never really thought about having a boyfriend until now." Zelda turned and looked at me. My face had reddened with embarrassment. Laughing, she said, "Well, I know one way to make you uncomfortable! Okay, we'll talk about something else now." I was surprised she didn't get the hint, seeing as I blushed completely at her boyfriend statement. We had barely started discussing our favorite manga series, when we arrived at the locker room doors. We parted ways as she left for the girls' and I the guys.

Now, I got the shock of my life as I rounded the corner of the locker room. There, placing a small gold crown on his head, was Marth. He probably took a shortcut to beat everyone else here.

"Your locker is over there," he said pointing. "I think you'll like your fighter outfit." I gaped at him. Just two minutes before, he was acting like I was the last person on earth he wanted to be around.

"I bet you're wondering why I'm being so courteous. Well, it's because all the pent up emotions I've been storing will explode on the battlefield. I'm just keeping them under control until the right moment. I am anticipating a fight against you."

"Alright, but don't count on me losing," I retorted. Marth gave me a stiff, composed nod, then turned back to adjusting his cape. I walked over to where Marth had told me my locker was. Sure enough, I found a pair of cream leggings, chainmail, and a tunic and hat in my favorite color, a deep green. Along with the outfit, there was a metal shield, and glowing white blade with a purple hilt, sheathed inside a blue and gold scabbard. A bow and arrows, a boomerang, bombs, and a hookshot. Just as soon as I had pulled on my brown leather boots, some of the other boys walked in and began to grab their gear from their own lockers. When I walked into the common room, I noticed the all of the teachers were there. Pit and Lady Palutena were talking like friends, and Lucina and Robin were back to their usual antics. At the far end of the room, Marth and Zelda were talking quietly. Zelda had on a relaxed expression, as if she were merely talking to an acquaintance. Marth, however, seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit. Zelda finally turned and noticed me. She grabbed Marth's wrist and dragged him over to me.

"It seems like you two have gotten at least a little bit of information, considering the events at lunch," Zelda said with a laugh. "But, allow me to give further introductions. Marth, this is Link. I met him earlier, and we're both in the same Area. Link is a great artist, and has an amazing sense of humor. Link, this is Marth, I met him last summer. Marth is one of the smartest people I know, but he isn't very social around anyone, except for me. Guess that makes me special! Anyways, go ahead and say hello." I was the first to recover, giving Marth a calm and mature, "Hello, it's nice to meet you."

"You as well," Marth responded, playing along.

"Alright, everyone. Pay attention. You have already heard from your homeroom teachers the event of the Smash Tournament. Let me further explain." The whole room was silenced by the mature and comforting voice of the Wii Fit Trainer. Everyone called her Ms. Wii. Her brother, Mr. Wii continued Ms. Wii's statement.

"Groups for the tournament are formed with a maximum of four people, and can only be formed with people in your Area. And feel free to start making teams now. But, Tournament is a long way away. A whole school semester away, unfortunately."

"Today, you will be testing your skills against another person in your Area," Ms. Wii continued.

"These people have already been chosen. Because there is an odd number of students in each Area, one student will be fighting their homeroom teacher. Understood?"

"Yes," we chorused. I was more than excited. I was thrilled. Marth was in a different Area than me and Zelda. In your face, your royal highness.

"Too bad we can't have your as a team member," Zelda said to Marth. She sounded painfully sincere.

"Who is we?" Marth asked.

"Me and Link, of course! You will do the Smash Tournament with me right?"

"Of course," I responded.

"See? It really is a shame, though. Together, we would have been unstoppable!" That was true, but I doubt that if me and Marth were on the same team with Zelda, the whole "together" thing wouldn't happen.

"...Link, and Zelda. Please proceed through the doors to the left." The three of us hadn't realized they're been calling the pairs of opponents. Obviously enough, Pit had been paired with Lady Palutena, Lucina had been paired with Robin, and Sheik had been paired with Samus. Zelda grabbed my gauntlet protected hand with her gloved one. I hadn't taken the time to look at her. She wore a dress with a purple top half and a white skirt, and a gold leaf patterned crown adorned her head. Brown boots a little bit darker than mine clicked in the floor as we walked. On her shoulders were gold shoulder guards, and attached to her skirt was a banner with many sacred markings. Clasped to her ears were two silver earrings. Unlike me, her ears weren't actually pierced. I had blue earrings looping through both of my long pointed ears. I noticed that Zelda had the same long, delicate ears as I did. The upper back of her dress was split into a "V" shape, showing off her smooth, creamy shoulder blades. Overall, she looked amazing. Okay, I'll admit it, the open-back thing was really distracting.

"Let's go out and enjoy ourselves, Link!" She said, pulling me out of my daze.

"I won't go down so easily!" I promised.

"Me neither!" She said. Little did she know, that my comment wasn't meant for her alone. I wasn't going to be losing to Marth, either.

**Yang: ****Marthipan**** Okay nothing much to say today, I've been arranging music and otherwise procrastinating. Good times.**


	7. Chapter 7

A long bridge stretched out to the left and to the right. There was a shimmering barrier that marked the edge of the stage. If you passed that line, your opponent scored a point. I'd read about this stage in the books at the library earlier this summer. Apparently, I bore a striking resemblance to the heroes of that realm. I was even left handed and used some of the same weapons. This stage was built so that we could remember the Hero of Twilight. It resembled the Eldin Bridge, a place where a horseback battle took place with a monster called a bulblin.

"This battle will be based on general skill," Ms. Wii's voice boomed over hidden intercoms. "The battle status is one stock, no items. But, final smashes are allowed." Zelda gave a silent "YESSSSS" to herself. Though she was excited, the last part about final smashes made me nervous. Everyone who has the "aura" is also born with a powerful move called a final smash. We were supposed to manifest ours over the summer, but I haven't received mine. Oh well, too late to turn back now.

"3! 2! 1! GO!" Zelda rushed towards me, and hit me square in the chest with a close range magic spell. I flew back a little, and she tried to juggle me with and upward launch attack. I thrust my sword down and hit her before she could send me flying again. She skidded across the ground before regaining her balance.

"Not bad," she said, giving a nod of approval. As she teleported behind me, I swiftly dodged her attack and fired my hookshot, pulling her into a grab. In the heat of the battle, I wasn't concerned about how close Zelda was to me. Slamming her onto the ground, and sending her flying with the rebounded force, she teleported down on top of me before I could hit her with an upward launch attack. I flew straight into the exploding barrel that broke part of the bridge, barely staying on stage.

"Sorry, but I don't think you'll be winning this one," Zelda said. The sky darkened as she summoned enough power to be granted her final smash. A glowing bow almost as tall as she was appeared in her hands. I tried to jump, but it was too late. Stars exploded across my vision as her Light Arrow pierced me through. Time seemed to slow down. It was as if I could see Marth's smug grin. I wasn't. Going. To lose. A hum started in my chest, then buzzed its way to my head, my hands, and all the way down to my feet. I immediately recognized this feeling as my final smash. I gave a yell and sliced through the arrow with a flaming sword. My entire body was engulfed with a rainbow fire as a let loose the built up power. What was unleashed was a merciless 16-hit combo, ending with a devastating final blow. Crimson lightning cracked and boomed as Zelda was launched out of bounds. The battle ended, and I was back in the common room. I suddenly felt exhausted, and sank down into the nearest couch. I took a swig from my water bottle, when I finally realized Zelda staring at me. I shifted in my seat under her gaze.

"Well, that was quite the interesting battle," a voice said. A chill raced up my spine when I realized who had spoken. The entire room fell silent. Ganondorf, the principle of School of Smash stool in the doorway. His expression would have been even, if not for the spark of curiosity in his eyes. He was looking right at me.

"I look forward to seeing more great talent from you." With that, Ganondorf left the common room as fast as he'd entered. But lingering in the air behind him was as sense of awe. Ganondorf was said to be the best brawler out there. The fact that I had grabbed his attention struck me as shocking. Then all at once, we dispersed into the locker rooms, acting as if nothing happened. I was fine with it staying that way. After changing back into my uniform, I began to head to math class. But before I reached the door, I was stopped by Marth.

"That little stunt was impressive. Though impressive, will it be enough to beat me?" He then turned and stalked away in the other direction.

* * *

**Yang: Sister sitting behind me, do you have something to say?**

**Yin: I want iced chai**

**Yang: Weird flex but okay**

**Yin: Oh wait you're writing a thing I didn't mean-**

**Yang: Too late the natural dialogue will be posted!**


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of the day went fairly well considering I didn't have any classes with Marth. Algebra was boring, but it's algebra, so that makes sense. Our science unit is currently marine biology, which was not my favorite subject. After school, I met up with Toon and most of the gang. The only person missing was Zelda. Finally, I saw her emerge from the school doors, deep in conversation with Marth. She smiled and shook her head at something he said, and Marth laughed. A pang of jealousy stabbed my heart.

Though I saw Zelda more often than Marth did, he evened out the score what with him meeting Zelda prior to School of Brawl. Zelda waved goodbye as she and Marth parted ways. Then she dashed across the courtyard to our group. Just before we left the courtyard, however, I spotted a very unpleasant looking scene. Peach had her arms folded across her chest, and held her head up high, as if she was defending herself. And indeed, she was. Staring down at her was… A turtle? Did turtles have spikes on their backs? I quickly recognized him as Bowser, and his two right hand men, Little Mac and Wario.

"We should help her out," Robin said with a nod. Our group approached the scene slowly, so we didn't make the situation worse.

"... Is none of your business," Peach was saying. "Besides, who ever said that I had been afraid of you before? Maybe, I just didn't want to hurt your feelings," Peach said with a sly grin.

Bowser laughed and said, "I haven't known you to be so bold." He took a step forward to tower over Peach. "Perhaps, you should receive some punishment for your misbehavior."

"The only people here who deserve punishment are you three," Lucina said, and gestured to Bowser and his goons. "If you have emotional problems you need help with, then you can take that to your mental therapist. But here, we only listen to people we can trust. You aren't one of them, so I suggest you take your leave." I didn't know that Lucina had so many comebacks stored in that wave of blue hair. No wonder Robin found her fascinating.

"Watch yourself, Lucina. You wouldn't want these problems in your life, would you, now?" Bowser said, bearings his fangs. "That goes for you _and _your friends."

"Well, at least we've got friends, unlike you," Zelda retorted. Bowser growled and stormed away, with Little Mac and Wario in tow.

"Why did you do that for me? Not that I didn't appreciate the help," Peach said.

"Well, I simply had to help out because 'I fight for my friends,'" I explained.

We laughed and slung our bags over our shoulders. Peach lived in the other direction, so we parted ways at the courtyard. It turns out the rest of us lived within three blocks of each other, but the streets went in all different directions. How come I didn't notice that a girl as pretty as Zelda lived so close by? I was sure I knew everyone in the neighborhood. The first to break off were Robin, Chrom, and Lucina. Apparently, they had become neighbors and good "friends" when Lucina moved next door during the summer. Though it was great for the two of them, Chrom didn't seem to happy about Lucina spending so much time with Robin. After that, Sheik left, and then Pit broke away. Soon, it was just me, Toon, and Zelda. Toon had his iPhone in front of his face, so he wasn't talking to me or Zelda. After a while, our conversation shifted to _Fates/Zero,_ one of the best animes in the history of anime. She said that I reminded her a little bit of Artoria, in the way that we were both knights.

"But I'm no king, and I haven't got nearly as much strength as a servant," I argued

"Doesn't matter. You've certainly got enough renown to at least become a great Heroic Spirit." Zelda sighed, then turned to look at me. "Will you still let me be on your team? Even though I lost to you today?"

"Of course! Why would you ask that? You'd be an amazing teammate. You're smart, and optimistic, and strong…" I noticed Zelda staring at me, beaming.

"I'm glad that you think I'm that great," she said quietly. Then we both looked away, blushing. "You're great, too, you know. Even if there was only us two fighting, we'd be indestructible," She whispered. I felt a warm glow spread throughout my entire body. When I was with her… I simultaneously felt at ease and shy.

"It really is too bad that we couldn't have Marth join us though," she said, frowning. Jeez. Way to burst my bubble. But I didn't hold that against her. Even though I hated to admit it, Marth was a pretty great guy.

"This is my street. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, Link. Promise the eight of us will walk again in the morning?"

"Sure! I'll let everyone else know," I called as her figure grew smaller and smaller.

"Wonderful!" She called back, then she was out of shouting distance. Toon had taken out his earbuds, and had been watching the scene unfold.

"You had a girlfriend, and you never even told me?" He asked. My face heated up.

"She's not my girlfriend. I just met her today," I told him.

"You mean she's not your girlfriend yet," he corrected.

We both laughed, and took the last few steps up to our house.

**Yang: Link could certainly be a Heroic Spirit. In fact, that seems like a good writing idea... it's mine don't steal it. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up the next morning feeling like I was bouncing up and down, due to happiness. My drawing of Zelda had come out great. Though, I'm not sure how Zelda didn't find that weird, drawing pictures of people. Anyway, it was an image of her in Jeanne d'Arc's outfit, holding the unfurled banner that served as Jeanne's weapon. It was only shading instead of inking or coloring. I walked into Toon's room and patted his shoulder.

"Hey, little me. Time to get up," I murmured. Toon sleepily sat up and rubbed his eyes. He gave a yawn and said, "I had a dream, that the girl you walked home with shot a big arrow at you," He said sleepily. His huge, innocent black eyes saw everything. He tended to have dreams of things he didn't even know about. Sometimes his sleeping journeys were so spot on, it was unnerving.

Toon smiled and said,"But you got back at her and you won. Someday, I want to be able to fight like that." Even though he was a high school first year, Toon always seemed to idolize someone.

"Don't worry, you will," I reassured him. "The power to fight like that comes from right here." I placed my hand over my heart, and then he did the same.

As we walked down the street to school, Zelda informed me of Marth's background. He lived in the opposite direction as our group, so Zelda couldn't walk with him. 1 point for me. On the other hand, Ike was Marth's family friend, so there was no question about Marth's superior grades. 1 point for him. But, Marth's homeroom teacher was Captain Falcon. Negative one point. Falcon was probably the most egotistical person who ever walked the planet. He even talked in third person. Sometimes, it's enough to give you a migraine. After further discussions about teachers, Zelda pulled her drawing of me from her bag, and I unraveled mine.

"Wow! Great minds really do think alike!" She exclaimed. Her drawing was of me as Gawain. And, if we put them next to each other, then it looked like we were both facing the same enemy. Three points for me _and_ Zelda. Lucina and Robin had calmed down a little. They would talk quietly, then randomly erupt into a fit of giggles, which made everyone else laugh. At least they weren't poking each other anymore. We arrived at school, and there was another aching moment when Zelda was talking to Marth.

Soon, though, Marth began talking with Roy and Cloud, and Zelda turned back to me, relieving the weight on my heart. Today, Lady Palutena was in the courtyard, and, though she was trying to hide it, had been waiting for Pit. The "teacher advancing on student" relationship got quite a few stares from all of the people in the courtyard, and a few pictures from Camii's cell phone. Our frivolous conversations were interrupted by the metallic throng of the bell. When me and Zelda entered the school, we had to part ways again. I watched her walk away, my heart thumping in time with her footsteps. Then Pit yanked me into class.

**Yang: I lost my streak oh no.**


	10. Chapter 10

Today was almost exactly like yesterday, but with one exception: there was music instead of art. Now, this isn't your typical type of music class. For starters, our teacher was none other than the comet observer herself: Rosalina. Her eyes constantly glimmered and sparkled, and she was surrounded at all times by two to six Luma that varied in color. It was too bad that Pit had ACE and DML instead of art and music. At least he wasn't alone. Marth and Samus had those classes as well. When I stepped into the room, I immediately noticed the many instruments balanced carefully on the tops of the chairs.

"Students, pick your proffered instruments, and then we will play "Hyrule Field" from the Twilight Era. This song is famously known all over the realm of Hyrule, and here in the Smash Bros. realm." About the preferred instruments, being musically educated was another requirement to enroll in School of Smash. I sat down with my instrument, the flute, and began to play the _Prelude of Light. _About half way through the song, I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I hadn't noticed that Zelda, Lucina, Robin, and all of the other students had arrived. Chatter had filled the room, along with the sound of absent notes being plucked, bowed, or whistled.

"When I was younger, I'd wanted my instrument to be the flute," Zelda said. "But as I grew older, the harp began to pull on me, and soon enough, I'd found the right one." She finished the last of the _Prelude of Light _for me on her harp. Robin's instrument was the viola, and Lucina's was the violin. Along with musicians, some students, such as Peach and the Mario Brothers, had lined up on the rafters. If you were a good enough vocalist, then you didn't need to play an instrument. As the last students filed into the music room, Sheik took his seat with a harp next to Zelda.

"Hello, you must be Zelda," he said. "I haven't had the chance to meet you before, though I hear quite a bit about you." He raised his eyebrows pointedly in my direction. I blushed, and Zelda laughed.

"Well, then, you must be Sheik. I've heard lots about you as well. You were elected Student Council President just yesterday, correct?"

"Yes. And, I was also paid a visit by my very own fanclub," He said with a chuckle.

"Wow, that's a record," I said. I turned to Zelda. "Normally, it takes a few days for a Sheik fanclub to form."

"Last year was the original record, six days. But _this _is basically a minor miracle," Robin clarified. Sheik was arguably the most handsome guy in the school. Fanclubs were a common occurrence since middle school.

"Class, ready your instruments. This song was requested by our lovely art teacher, Camii." Rosalina raised her wand, signaling for the students to ready their instruments. Before we began, I looked over towards the door. There, leaning against the door frame, was Principal Ganondorf himself. His eyes shone with an intense and intellectual gaze that seemed to pierce through me, leaving me with a chill. I shuddered as he turned and walked away. I'd met him before. Last summer, in fact. He had been kind, with a warm smile on his huge, dark face. But now, as I saw how he reacted to the students, I wondered what could have happened to the gentle, quiet man I'd known. After he'd left, I turned back to the music.

"Are you okay, Link?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," I said. When we began to play, our notes soared up, along with the weight of our worries.


	11. Chapter 11

"Arc Fire!" I rolled out of the way as searing orange flames burst to life. Robin was proving himself a pretty decent fighter. He'd even trapped me in a nosferatu spell. He thrust his sword forward, and I parried it with my own. I flung my boomerang, knocking Robin away and drawing a new item closer to me. It was a sphere, about the same size as my head. Purple in color, there was a perfect plus sign of cracks, revealing the magma trapped inside.

I threw it on the ground as Robin rushed towards me. The sphere exploded, its cracks erupting with sweltering jets of superheated lava. A relentless beam shot out and struck Robin, the impact of the hit sending him flying out of bounds. Another victory. As I stepped back into the common room, I could tell some of the other students would have liked another glimpse at my final smash. Oh well, maybe next time. Before I entered the locker room, I listened to Sheik taking down Pit, and Samus artfully defeating Lady Palutena. Zelda's story of triumph over Lucina. I could feel Marth's eyes burning holes in my skull the whole time. When I turned to face him, I surprised to find that his figure had been replaced by another: Principal Ganondorf. He'd watched my battle again. When our eyes met, he turned and walked away.

"I don't trust him either," Zelda reassured me.

"He's certainly... unnerving," I agreed. The worries from the beginning of music were back.

The rest of the day went as usual, with Lady Palutena having Pit "lead the discussion" about the reading we were assigned last night. At lunch, Chrom once again sat deliberately between Lucina and Robin for separation purposes, and Bowser was ticked off again. Marth sitting with Cloud and Roy, and glaring at the back of my head. Samus blowing up another test tube on purpose (she knows the periodic table by heart), and Sheik warding off a cluster of girls by threatening to use his Student Council President position to cancel all dances forever.

As Zelda, Pit, Chrom, Sheik, and I waited for Lucina and Robin to arrive, Sheik told us about the plans the student council was making. Along with the other after school clubs, the council was adding in a Photography club. All of us were more than thrilled to hear about the new club. Sheik said that the club would be hosted by our librarian, Fi. Our conversation was abruptly interrupted by running footsteps heading our way. We turned and saw Robin and Lucina racing towards us at full speed, slowing to a stop just before they crashed into the group.

"Someone's using the gym for a battle," Lucina gasped.

"And it's not the teachers," Robin added, catching his breath.

"The gym isn't supposed to be used after school without permission," Sheik said.

"Robin, Lucina, you can catch up with us when you're ready," I said. "Everyone else, let's get to the gym!"

"We'll go tell Lady Palutena," Lucina said.

"Great," Zelda responded. "In the meantime, we'll see what we can do at the scene of the crime."

Robin and Lucina nodded, then the rest of us took off down the hall. We skidded to a halt and stepped into the teachers observing area, the place where they watched the battles take place. We gasped when we looked at the viewing screen. There, in the coliseum, a Peach verses all clash was raging at maximum power.


	12. Chapter 12

"We have to get in!" I shouted over the noise of the battle. There were speakers all around the viewing area, and they were designed to project all sounds emanating from the Brawl. The snarls of Bowser ricocheted off the walls as he, Little Mac, and Wario triple teamed against Peach, who was managing to stay alive. But she couldn't hold her own for long.

"You can't enter a fight if the Brawl has already started!" We have to help her from here!" Sheik yelled back at me.

"How do we do that?" Zelda shouted.

"We can spawn in items for her to use!" I responded. We couldn't keep yelling forever. Sooner or later, our voices would tire out.

"How do we know she'll be able to use them?" Pit yelled back.

"I don't know! But we have to trust her!" Chrom shouted.

Suddenly, a new noise burst from the screen. Now aiding Peach was Lady Palutena and, of course, the teacher's pet, Marth. After a series of blinding combos, Marth turned and looked at us. Through the screen, I could tell that Marth was very excited to be showing off his skills to Zelda.

"Watch this!" He called, then closed his eyes. The sky darkened to accumulate the power of Marth's final smash, just waiting to be free. Lady Palutena and Peach sensed his actions, and grabbed Little Mac and Wario. Bowser ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then, Marth let out a yell and surged forward, driving his sword through all three bullies, immediately sending them flying through the stratosphere. As soon as their bodies hit the barrier, a deep voice boomed, "GAME." The battle was over.

"It must have been a stock battle," Pit said as Peach, Marth, and Lady Palutena struck their customary victory poses, while the other team clapped. This was traditional, and something that hadn't been ignored since brawl had begun.

When Marth stepped into the common room, Zelda rushed over to him.

"That was amazing! You're so powerful!" She said. Then her smile melted into a frown. "I was worried about you. I know that brawling doesn't allow you to get hurt, but still." The scene pulled at my heart with cold fingers. It was getting harder to bear seeing Zelda and Marth together. But, I had to admit, Marth's fighting skills were amazing from what I'd just seen. He was faster than me, and he knew his blade very well. His dancing blade technique was admirable. If there ever came a time that Zelda was in danger, it was possible that Marth would do a better job protecting her from threat than me.

"Although these boys have been taught a lesson," Lady Palutena said, snapping me out of my daze. "We'll need to be taking this to Principal Ganondorf and Mimii."

"Who's Mimii?" I asked.

"She's my older sister," a voice said. We all turned to see the owner of the sentence. Standing in the doorway, splattershot in hand, was none other than Camii. "Mimii is the student observer, and head of the student council. Though, she does take the role of guidance counselor at times. Now, let's take this to the main office, shall we?"

On the way to the office, Lady Palutena informed us on how she had found out about the fight.

"As teachers, we of course have full access to the brawl room in our school. There are many more out there, as we all know," she said. "I saw you rush by, and then Lucina and Robin filled me in on the story. Marth, who was talking to me and Ike about the test Friday, volunteered to come with me. After that, with my authority over the system it was easy to input me and Marth into the battle." We stopped outside of the office doors as Camii asked for permission to enter.

When we stepped into the office, I was surprised by its size. There was main room with a table, and the other offices were connected to the larger room by doors. At the table clearing up after the Student Council meeting were Samus, Shulk, and another girl. The girl had jet black hair that had been cut short, going perfectly with her cold eyes, which resembled pools of silver. I remembered seeing her in the hallways before. She was a third year, and was said to be one of the best student brawlers in the school.

"Oh, hi Sheik," Samus said, looking away. "I didn't think you'd be coming back here today. Anyways," she said, her gaze flicking over to me. "Link, have you met my older sister, Bayonetta?"

"No, I don't believe I have," I said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," she said, and we extended arms to shake hands. "If I remember correctly, I might be visiting students during gym class in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure we'll rock," she said with a wink.

"I'm looking forward to learning something new from a more experienced brawler. I'm sure there's more to fighting than meets the eye," I responded.

Bayonetta nodded. "You have a bright mind in between those blonde locks. Stay sharp." And with that, Bayonetta, Samus, and Shulk left the room. Just as soon as they had disappeared down the hall, Camii reemerged along with Principal Ganondorf and an inkling who looked just like Camii. _That's probably Mimii, _I thought.

"Now that we're all settled," Principal Ganondorf said. "Let's discuss what happened in the gym today. Your guardians have been notified of this situation, so you can sit back and relax for now." Ganondorf's cold, obsidian eyes found mine on the last phrase, and the hair on the back of my neck began to rise. But, I was reassured by Mimii's and Camii's presence in the room.

It took a while to coax out the truth, but it turned out that Peach had been bullied by Bowser and Wario since last year, when the three of them had started attending the school,with Mario and Luigi last year. She hadn't been that great of a fighter, and had always needed help from the teachers. But over the summer, she'd been training hard, and was managing on her own just fine now. That was probably why Bowser had gotten Little Mac to join his group. He'd been afraid that the timid girl he'd picked on last year would come back with vengeance on her mind. And he'd been right. But I sensed there was more that they weren't telling us. This story and our encounter yesterday didn't match up. After a brief discussion about in school suspension for the three bullies, and words of praise for the rest of us, we were allowed to go home. Toon had car pooled to baseball practice with Kirby and Jigglypuff, so Sheik, Robin, Lucina, Pit, Zelda and I had the road home to ourselves.

"I wish I could have done more to help," I told Zelda with a sigh as the last of our group pulled away.

"I wish I could have done something, too," she responded. "It's a good thing that Lady Palutena and Marth were able to get there." Now it was her turn to sigh. "I'm still pretty bummed that Marth can't be on our team for the smash tournament." Each word of her last sentence squeezed tightly on my chest. The way Zelda talked about Marth made me feel hollow. Maybe I really did like her, but Marth had jumped ahead. I shoved the thought away. And just in time.

"Do you still have the picture that I drew you?" Zelda asked.

"Yes, I still do. My uncle laminated it for me," I said.

"My father doesn't know about your drawing. He said that drawing wasn't worth my time." She turned back to me. "You said your uncle laminated the drawing. If you don't mind me asking, where are your mother and father?"

"... I never knew them. They… Died when I was young," I said. "But sometimes, I remember something like a feeling. And that's enough for me."

Zelda nodded in understanding. "My parent situation is tough as well, although not like that." With those words echoing in our minds, we parted ways. I had a feeling that this topic wouldn't be brought up again.


	13. Chapter 13

The school day went by in a snail pace. Well, not really. Okay, I lied. Art seemed to go by too fast. We were making abstract paintings to show space. But it couldn't look like anything, like a cloud or a flower. It proved a challenge for our whole table. For about ten minutes, all we did was sketch out designs. Finally, we each came up with ideas. After that, in ELA we were finishing our book creators, and in science, Samus decided to take it upon herself to play with a little bit of phazon. You know when you shake up a soda bottle, and when you open it it bursts? Imagine the same thing except when you open it it hits the ceiling, burns a hole through the tile and nearly breaks the ventilation. Lady Palutena was displeased for the first time ever. But why any teacher wouldn't be displeased it a student nearly burned a hole into the Foreign language room, I don't know. It was ironic that I had to go to Foreign Languages after that. Sacaen isn't that far away from Japanese, though. I was fluent in it, and so were Zelda and Toon. It was said that Principal Ganondorf could speak them, too, along with being fluent in Gerudo. I'd been in a good mood after Miss Lyn declared no homework for that night. Lyn was another pretty green haired teacher, much like Palutena. However, no one attempted to make advances because of her fiance, Hector.

I swear the entire second year floor could hear the cheer we raised after the vents stopped steaming from another one of Samus' solutions. And for the first half of class, we were allowed a grace period, because they were replacing the ceiling tile from below the Language classroom. She said she couldn't concentrate on teaching with all of the commotion. Either way, she let us do whatever we wanted on our iPads for that part of class. Then Sheik had the grand idea to use a karaoke app on his iPad, and we had to turn them off.

In total contradiction of how my morning went, for the first time in my life, lunch was not immediate happy hour. The main reason was because as I walked into the cafeteria, the first thing I noticed was Zelda and Marth in the lunch line. There was a light dancing in Zelda's eyes that I'd never seen before, as Marth and her talked quietly. The line moved down, and I saw Zelda whisper something in his ear. They both laughed, and then Marth broke away to sit with Cloud and Roy, and Zelda trotted happily over to our table, taking her seat next to me.

"What were you and Marth talking about?" I asked.

"He wanted to know about the Art and Photography club," she responded. "I introduced him to _Fate/Zero_, and he says he's really enjoying it. Gilgamesh is his favorite character, probably because Marth is the Hero-King!" Figures.

After school that day, the first official Art and Photography club meeting took place. It consisted of me, Zelda, Sheik, Samus, Pit, Lucina, Robin, and many others. There were so many people, that next time we met we would be using Camii's art room instead of the recording studio that was attached do to the media center. The most eventful part was when a girl with long golden hair and green eyes entered the room. She introduced herself as Viridi. Our first day in the club would be photography. Those who had their own cameras brought them, including Zelda and I. Our instructions were to take pictures of things from different angles to understand lighting. We all set out throughout the school in search of interesting images. Much to my excitement, Zelda asked, "Want to go together?"

"Of cour- I mean, why not?" I replied, and she laughed.

We entered a science classroom, thankfully one Samus hadn't yet afflicted.

I glanced over at Zelda. She had focused on the way the sun shined on flasks filled with different colored liquids. As discreetly as I could, I snapped a photo of her profile. The corners of her eyes crinkled lightly in a gentle smile, and the setting sun did well to paint her face in golden yellow.

"I-I think we should be heading back now," I stuttered, moving my camera behind my back as she lifted her head to face me.

"Alright," she said quietly. She paused a moment, simply looking at me, long enough for me to feel a blush rising to my cheeks. Then we both turned and made our way back in understanding silence.

The next day, a minor miracle took place smack in the middle of our cafeteria. Marth came and sat at our table. Since I sat next to Zelda, that put him right next to me. Though Zelda, being the wonderful person she is, made sure to include Marth nonetheless. I was like, Well, isn't that PERFECT. Not that I could blame Zelda for anything, which I don't. She was just… I don't know… Zelda? No one was quite like her, and I doubt there ever will be. Or is that too opinionated?


	14. Chapter 14

The next three months rolled by, as training grew harder during gym, the air got colder, and learning speed increased. More reading assignments, more essays, more homework, more projects. Did I mention the projects? There were so many project assignments in all of the core subjects. But, as if to cheer us up, during the last few days before Christmas break, just as promised, Chrom, Shulk, Bayonetta, and a few other third years paid us a visit. We learned some valuable skills in terms of rolling and dodging. Bayonetta was especially quick, and had some of the most interesting combos. You'd be fighting her and the suddenly a large pink heel might come crashing down in front of you. And her aerial combos… horrifying.

Strangely enough though, I never fought against Marth. Every day when gym came around, I waited to be called with Marth as my opponent. But I never heard it. We both seemed to be fine with it. We were both thinking, _I'll just take him out in the Tournament_. As the days went on, Marth continued to sit with us. Samus was getting a little irritated.

She said to me after school one day, "That Marth guy is freaking me out. And besides, isn't he supposed to sit at the smart kid table? He's not awesome enough for our table, anyway." I'd laughed. Samus always found a way to lighten the mood, even if she came across as "always-slightly-pissed." Our club continued to pull in more people, so much that we might be switching places with the Homework Club, who had the cafeteria. As our club and learning skills grew, so did my feelings for Zelda.

It was hard to tell if it was the same for her, because she often grabbed my hand to get me to come with her. Regardless, she still seemed to talk to me more and more often. So often that Marth was beginning to notice. Now, he had to call Zelda's name to get her attention in a conversation with me. Normally Zelda would notice him first and invite him in.

Also, I was starting to see Sheik and Samus talking one on one. Those conversations were also the only moments where I saw Samus get slightly nervous. Very interesting. The girls that were part of the Sheik fan club were very disappointed. And of course, Robin and Lucina were sticking to their "two peas in a pod" thing. Not a surprise there.

On the last day of school before winter break began, I gave presents out to my friends. A new book series for Robin to read (he practically inhales them), a megaphone for Pit (because it's ironic), and for Sheik, I'd bought him a professional recording kit. Sheik liked to write his own songs on the harp. The song I'd played earlier, the "Prelude of Light," was one of his creations, but had become famous throughout the entire school.

Now, for Zelda. I didn't know what to get her at first, but then I'd remembered art class, and what a great painter she was. So, I'd gotten her a deluxe art set with colored pencils, oil pastels, and acrylic and watercolor paints. It was complete with six regular pencils, a big eraser, and four different sized brushes. I'd blushed hard when I gave it to her, but I didn't think she could tell, because our cheeks were already splashed red from the cold. In return, Zelda had given me an Ocarina and a thirty dollar prepaid card.

She also gave me a hug. Not just a quick embrace, but a real, six second squeeze. Two seconds was the time limit for a friendly hug, but I doubted she knew or cared. I didn't care either. The whole time, I could smell that floral smell that she had.

"Merry Christmas," she said, pulling away. Her mother was picking her up from school so they could drive out to The Great Bay for vacation. Zelda's parents had been divorced for a while, but she stayed living with her father.

I was getting driven home by my Uncle, anyway.

"Merry Christmas," I said back. Then she was in the car waving goodbye until next year. I want the only one waving back though. Her waving became more frantic as she noticed Marth stepping outside. He waved back, and then Zelda disappeared around the corner. I turned to face him, and he had a smug grin plastered across his face. _Well played, my friend, _I thought. _Very well played. But two can play at this game._

_What game? _I scolded myself. _Do I even like Zelda? Well, she is very attractive, and nice, and she cares a lot about her friends. _I nodded inwardly. _I'm her friend, _I thought. Was that all I'd ever want to be? I couldn't keep confusing myself much longer. I also needed to stop thinking like that. But it was hard to stop thinking about her. Zelda crowded my thoughts so often, it was almost overwhelming. As I slid into the car after Toon, I felt someone's eyes on me. As we drove away, I looked up at the office window. Before their faces were out of view, a caught a glimpse of Camii and Principal Ganondorf looking out at the snow covered courtyard.

I flashed back to my midterm conversation with my guidance counselor, Mimii. Our chat was completely normal, just about my grades and class recommendations, except for one part.

She'd asked, "Is there anyone in our staff that makes you uncomfortable?"

I had been taken aback by her question, and she'd leaned closer to tell me, "I heard from Camii that Ganondorf has taken an interest in you. Between us three, he can't be trusted. He's had trouble at his last few jobs due to his capacity for Smash, specifically those who exhibit strength. He was brought to the school as principal less because he's a good manager, and a little more so that we could keep an eye on him."

"Wha- Why are you telling me all this?" I'd wondered aloud.

Mimii leaned back. "You have a talent for smash. I'm telling you this so that you can be a little more… careful. But please, don't let something between the adults distract you. Enjoy your break, and come back to school refocused. See you next year."


	15. Chapter 15

On the second to last day of vacation, I woke up and made a decision. I liked Zelda. I really did. After that, I opened up my group chat and told Sheik, Pit and Robin.

"Yes, you do like her," Pit answered me back. Zelda and I had been texting separately pretty consistently these days.

"Was it really that obvious?" I asked.

"Umm… Yes it was."

"Well, good luck," Robin said.

"What do you mean?" I responded.

"Some blue haired guy who fights in a tiara is gonna try and steal your girl," Sheik finished.

"You guys are great. Really appreciate it," I typed. That received three "lol's." But how was I supposed to be able to hang out with her, if I liked her? That just makes things awkward. But I had kind of been hanging out with her every day in school, and that was fine. Though, I hadn't acknowledged that I'd liked her then, so it was different. Oh well.

"Um, earth to Link?" Sheik messaged me. "I said Marth is coming for you."

"Oh right. Forgot about that." I typed back. And I had. The Tournament was on the last Thursday of the school year, which was the second to last day of school. On Friday, we had a half day, and the school hosted a party later that night.

But there were obviously more pressing matters, because Robin messaged us, "You should ask her out on Valentine's Day."

This is how I responded. "**** *** ****."

"No one does that anymore. It's so stereotypical," I said after my rage.

"Well, then, I guess I'll have to cancel the dance for that day," Sheik said. "Just kidding, I'm not getting rid of that."

"Are teachers allowed?" I asked. "If so, Pit you should go with Lady Palutena," I joked.

"**** **." Now it was the rest of us laughing at Pit.

"It's not my fault a frigging teacher likes me!" He complained.

"Yeah, well, too bad for you," Robin messaged. "On the other hand, Viridi isn't so bad, right?"

"True…" Pit responded.

"What about you and Lucina, Robin?" I asked.

"..."

"Robin?"

"..."

"Robin seriously."

"..."

"JUST TELL US ALREADY!" We all begged in caps lock.

"Fine! Me and Lucina got permission from our parents to start dating."

"You need permission from your parents? Dang," Sheik said. "My Dad would have been like, 'Hell no,' so I'd just start dating in secret and see how it plays out."

"What? You like someone?" I asked. "You should tell that to your fan club sometime."

"Let's just quest before this turns into one of those weird crush conversations other people would have in third grade," Pit jumped in.

"Why not? I mean, I enjoyed third grade," Robin said. He and Sheik had gone to the same elementary school, while me and Pit had gone to another. We'd all met during the summer at camp in Middle school, and became instant friends.

"Don't even remind me," Pit groaned.

"Why? What happened in third grade?" Sheik pried.

"That remains a secret," Pit answered.

"Then I'm sorry, but I can't be in this friendship anymore if we aren't sharing," I said.

"Well in 6th grade Pit told everyone that I wasn't as smart as him," Robin said. "So I kicked his ass in Anagrams. When that was over, we became friends."

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL ANYONE!" Pit protested. We all sent laughter in reply, then set out on a quest.


	16. Chapter 15 EX

**Zelda**

I strode along the shore of The Great Bay, the wind tousling my hair. Stray strands were gently flung across my face, as I felt the fabric-like sand beneath my feet. Twilight hung in the air has the sun dipped towards the horizon.

"Hey, Link isn't this…" I trailed off. This had been happening throughout some of the trip. I'd be someplace alone, only to find myself talking to Link. I'd gotten so used to him always being there when my Mom or Dad wasn't. I'd gone to the Bay with my mom. My parents are divorced, so I lived with my Dad, and my Mom had me for weekends and holidays.

Even out here, I still felt the urge to go find Link and talk about something. If my Dad was the most bothered by anything, it was wasted time. Being in the Photography and Art club really let me express myself much better, without having to worry about being told my emotions were "petty." I also found Link's presence comforting. And Marth was a reassuring person, though not in the same way as Link.

While Marth was a great best friend, Link had become important to me. I thought of him often nowadays. It's a confusing feeling, that's for sure. When I'd met him, I had immediately thought, "friend." I was so pleased to make a new group of friends so fast, that I'd obtained a bubbly personality. Normally, I would be calm, mostly keeping things to myself.

I sat down on the white sand with a sigh. My Mom finally caught up to me and took a seat to my right. The fire of the orange sunset seemed to crackle across the top of the water, as waves reflected the light in different directions.

"So, do you mind telling me who this Link guy is? He seems like a good enough person," she prodded. Mom was fine with taking more time to explore things you like, or as she says, "shake your color." I connected to her more than I connected with my Dad, so I trusted Mom with everything.

"Well, he's a boy at my school, obviously. He likes a lot of the same things I do. He's really nice," I responded.

"He's handsome, right? Or at least cute?" She said.

"Mom! It's not like that! Well, maybe… I don't know!" I protested, my face flushing pink with embarrassment. Mom doubled over in laughter, and soon I couldn't help but join her.

"Your red cheeks betray you! No more laughing then," she said, our last giggles fading away. "Zelda, I just want you to be happy. I know that I haven't done the best job of pleasing you. Especially breaking away from your father," she said. "If this Link boy can help me out in comforting you, tell him I said he should come around more often!"

In spite of the previous "no laughing" policy, we were sent into another fit of giggles.

"Thanks, Mom. Though, I don't think Dad likes the idea of any boy hanging out with me constantly," I said.

"That doesn't come as a surprise. He needs to lighten up. He can be so thick sometimes…" she trailed off. Her brow became furrowed, which meant that she was thinking hard. I stared at Mom for a moment.

"Mom, do you hate Dad?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of course not sweetie. Why would you think that?" She said, quickly turning to face me. "Things just weren't working out, so we both decided to move on. Now, we should head back to the room before it gets too dark." As we stood up, Mom looped her arm through mine, and we walked along the beach back to the hotel, our elbows hooked like we were two middle school besties. I thought of Link then, and I knew Mom sensed that, but she didn't say anything. That's why I liked my Mom better. Because she understood.

"Zelda," she asked, her voice surprisingly serious. "Do you want to come live with me?" I didn't mean to gasp, but I still caught my breath.

"Nevermind, I bet you wouldn't want to leave all your friends," she said. I'm glad she had made the decision for me.

I opened up my phone to check any messages I might have received, knowing I wouldn't get to read them for a while. Mom and I were going to see the "Indigogo's" performing. I clicked on my chat with Link and sent him a regular "What's up with you today?"

No instant response like usual. I didn't know why that bothered me so much. Then, a new message popped up from one of my other conversations

"Hello, Zelda," Marth had sent.

"Hey, Marth," I typed.

"Looks like you're still up," he responded.

"Yeah, I did. I 'm headed to a concert, and I was also chatting with Link, though he hasn't responded yet."

"... Can we… not talk about Link for a moment?"

That took me entirely by surprise. Dread pooled in my stomach. Had I said something wrong?

"...? Marth? I'm not understanding you," I answered.

"Nvmd."

"Sure," I answered. Marth then told me he was in Archenea for Christmas break.

"Archenea!?" I'd messaged him in disbelief. It was one of the wealthiest countries in the entire world, coming in a close second with Hyrule Castle Town. Even simply staying in a hotel room was pricey enough. Though, Marth's family could easily afford a trip like that. Mom could, too, but she said that we didn't need to spend a lot of money on a fancy trip, as long as we had fun.

"Yeah. There's so many shops and buildings. We even went shopping in the Secret Shop," he continued. "By the way, I got you something."

"I'll bet it was expensive. Please don't waste your money on me," I answered.

"Don't worry," he answered. "Oh, gotta go. I'll text you if you later, okay?" Marth said.

"Okay. Bye, Marth. You're an awesome friend."

"...Thanks."

I didn't get the hint.

Music filled the room as my Mom and I cheered and shouted with the rest of the crowd. Din and Nayru had made a surprise appearance. During the end of the music number, I felt my phone buzz in the back pocket of my jean shorts. My Mom pretended not to notice Link's face on the caller screen, and instead went back to moving the glow stick she held in time with the music. As soon as I'd answered, the music started up again.

"Jesus, is your phone on top of your car's subwoofer?" He shouted over the line.

"No. I'm at a concert!" I shouted back with a laugh.

"Wait- is that Din and Nayru? Keep your phone on until the end of the concert. I wanna hear!" He demanded. Laughing again, I held up my cell along side my glow stick.

I held the phone back down to my ear to talk to Link.

"That was great. Too bad I couldn't be there with you," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Imagine if Marth was here, too! It'd be a blast! I haven't been speaking to him that often these days."

I could almost picture Link shaking his head. "I'm not sure if I'm relieved or disappointed or what."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, nothing. Aw, dammit. My phone's gonna die. Talk to you tomorrow, Zelda. Have… Have a wonderful night."

I giggled. Him wishing me a happy night was futile. I was already brimming with joy. Suddenly, I wanted badly to be talking with Link in person. I wanted him to be standing with me as I watched Lulu sing.

"Goodnight, Link. Miss ya," I told him before ending the call.

Later that night, I rolled over in my bed, begging sleep to come, but my wish was not granted. Something about the loneliness I had felt was strong. I didn't feel this way about my other friends, but when Link entered a room with me, he seemed to fill up a space I didn't know existed.

I sat upright, pushing the covers off of myself. I noticed my mom's bed was empty beside me, and when I looked to my left, I saw her robed figure standing on our hotel room's balcony. I padded over to the sliding glass door, pushing it open to step outside. My mother turned around to face me.

"You're usually a sound sleeper. Are you thinking of Link again?" She asked. I blinked at her.

"You know everything," I sighed, giving her a defeated smile. I crossed my arms and rested them on the railing, staring out over the ocean as it lapped gently on the shore.

"I know love when I see it," she responded with a chuckle. I stood up abruptly and face her.

"I'm in love with him?" I asked.

"You didn't know?"

Mother seemed just as surprised as I was.

"Well, that's entirely up to you. Whether or not you chose to love him, I mean." I looked back at the ocean again, thinking of all the warm and lovely memories I shared with Link and all my friends. It was hard to pick out my specific feelings for Link, because all my other friends gave me joy as well.

_When I go home, I want to be able to find out, _I thought, a look of determination on my face. My mother smiled and nodded.

"Why don't we both head to bed?" She offered. I focused on the memory of the drawing I had made for Link. The feeling of wanting to impress him and see him again filled my heart and lulled me to sleep.

"You've got a gift, Zelda," My mother's voice awoke me. "From that other boy, Marth," she added with a chuckle.

"Ah, so _this _is the souvenir he meant to send!" I exclaimed, looking at the dragonstone_._ Holding a cup of coffee, my mother chuckled and shook her head.

"What?" I asked turning to look at her. She snorted.

"Kids your age…"


	17. Chapter 17

The next day, when the group stopped at the end of Lucina and Robin's street, we were greeted with not just three, but four faces. Lucina was arm in arm with Robin, and Chrom listened and responded patiently as none other than Reflet carried an intense conversation with him.

"Hey! It's my favorite fairy boy and angel! What's the hip haps?" Reflet said.

"Nothing is currently 'hip haps' right now. Is that even grammatically correct?" Sheik laughed.

"The great dictionary of 'I Don't Care I Think it Sounds Cool' has that phrase in it," Reflet pointed out. We laughed, continuing to make bad jokes and puns. When we arrived at school, our sides hurt from laughing. Reflet was in all of Zelda's classes, so she was sure to have fun. At lunch, Reflet managed to get to our table and take the seat where Marth usually sat.

"Ah, sorry Marth. Reflet is new, and she's our friend so…" Zelda trailed off.

"No, I understand," he said. "See you around, Zelda." He returned to his original table with Roy and Cloud. Beside me, Reflet shuddered.

"Brrrr, looks like the Ice King just returned from the north. His shameless heart only thawed by the warm smile of the lovey princess of light, Zelda!" Reflet snickered.

"Wh-wh-what?" Zelda stammered. "What are you talking about? We're just friends."

"Heh, I never said you liked him back. There's an insurmountable wall in between the Ice King and Zelda. He has blonde hair-"

"That's enough of that story, Reflet," I broke in. No way was I ready to let Zelda know I liked her. Not until I knew how she felt. If I spoke up first, the friction between me and Marth would only get worse. Besides, Zelda nodded in agreement, ready to end that discussion.

"Damn, you people are so sensitive. Especially you over there," she said pointing at Chrom. Teasingly, Chrom looked left and right, then made a quizzical face and pointed at himself, like, _Me?_

"Yes, you. So stoic in the corner over there."

"Last time I checked, that's not a corner," Pit pointed out.

"It's a corner enough for me!" Reflet said. "Anyway, I guess you have a small sense of humor."

"I don't have a small sense of humor. You just aren't funny enough," Chrom said.

We all attempted to say, "Oooh, burn!" But we couldn't get it out in between our laughter. We were so loud that other tables turned to see what was going on. After our howling died down, Peach got up from her table to talk to us.

"Hey guys, guess what? Bowser hasn't talked to me since the sabotage. He won't even meet my eyes! Thanks for coming with me to do that."

"No problem. It was actually a lot of fun doing something like that," Sheik said.

"Yeah," I agreed. Peach returned to her table, and I turned my head to look in Marth's direction. Instead of jealousy like I usually saw, there was longing in his eyes as he stole a glance at me and Zelda. But his stare quickly returned to a glare, and just as quickly he turned back to his conversation.

During gym, I saw firsthand the skill of Reflet, even though her fighting style was identical to Robin's. They were fighting against each other, and Reflet came out as the winner.

"I told you, dear brother, I was going to crush you in the Tournament. But I _at least _wanted it to be slightly challenging," Reflet complained. "Besides, I'm older than you by three whole minutes! You would think there'd be some motivation going on in there-" She was abruptly cut off as Robin slammed his Thunder tome on top of her head.

"Hey that hurts!" She yelped. Suddenly a hand appeared on Robin's shoulder.

"If you hurt Reflet again," Chrom said, his voice low and calm. Of course, everyone knew he was joking. "I will lock Lucina in her room and you will not be allowed to even look at her until you are at least 22 years old. Do I make myself clear?"

"My hero!" Reflet said.

"Don't worry, Robin! I could just jump out the window and you can catch me again, okay?" Lucina said.

"You jumped out a what?" Chrom said, seriously this time.

"Oh, lighten up, my blue haired friend. Robin was there, so you can rest assured everything was fine. And G-rated," Pit said.

Then it was Pit's turn to get hit with a book.

"Jeez, Reflet!" How the hell do you survive this guy?" Pit asked, rubbing the spot on his head where he was hit.

"I always have the upper hand, so, it's not any problem to me," she responded. We all laughed. As we walked home, I looked at my friends, all talking and laughing, and thought, _Man. I am one very lucky person. _

My eyes must have lingered on Zelda, because she suddenly asked, "What? Why are you staring at me?" She was blushing.

"Ah, it's nothing," I said. I hesitated, then I went for it. "I just can't help but admire your hairstyle. I've always kind of liked it." Now I was blushing. Hard. Zelda's face grew redder, and she slowly brought up a hand to her one of her bangs.

"...Thank you," she said with a smile. "I was… Planning on changing it, but I guess I'll leave it how it is." She turned away, then looked back to me, grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't help but smile too.

Suddenly, Zelda's phone buzzed. I peeked over her shoulder at the message. It was obviously from Marth. It read, "It's really nice out today, isn't it? Anyway, have a good afternoon."

"Of course, you too," she texted back, then slipped her cell back into her skirt pocket.


	18. Chapter 18

My finger hovered over the send button. An internal war was raging inside of me. If she rejected, there would forever be an awkwardness in between us. But I was so sure she would accept… The text read, "Me and the rest of the group were going to go to the new bookstore to browse for new stuff. Viridi and Samus are also joining us. Want to come?" I was still pondering when suddenly, a hand mashed my finger on the little button, and a swoosh sound emitted from my phone as the text was sent off to Zelda. I turned just in time to see a mound of blonde hair disappear around the corner of my bedroom door. By the time I got into Toon's room, he was reading a book, as if he hadn't done anything.

I drew in a breath to say something, but without looking up from his book, Toon said, "If I hadn't done it, you wouldn't have, and then you would have regretted it from this Saturday for the rest of your life."

I sighed. "Unfortunately, you're right, as always."

"No, I just care about you. You're my big brother, so I have to back you up from behind," he replied. "Now go enjoy yourself."

Half an hour later, we were disturbing our mostly peaceful neighborhood with billowing laughter and loud conversation. By the time our group of 10 made its way to the bookstore, we had turned more than a few heads.

"...And then there was another hilarious one," Reflet was saying. "It goes, 'Guys, my mom passed out in the living room, and I think she's dead.' And then the other guy says, 'Well, it wouldn't be called the living room anymore, would it?'" It was a terrible pun, but we all laughed hard anyway. When we entered the shop, we asked the cashier where the graphic novels were.

"The entire second floor. We also have Studio Ghibli movies, so I hope you enjoy!" She called as we rushed up the stairs to the second level.

"Woah."

"Oh my god…"

"This is awesome!"

Sounds of pure excitement tumbled out of our mouths. You know how you go to a a store and there's an entire soup aisle? Just imagine that but filled with good books instead. It was beautiful, almost majestic. Sheik was the first to react. He grabbed Samus' hand (which she didn't seem to mind) and tugged her into the fighting centered manga section. He seemed quite comfortable around Samus now.

Reflet and Chrom followed them. Pit and Viridi went off into the young adult section (arguably the worst one) with Robin and Lucina. Me and Zelda went into the film section. I enjoyed watching movies a little bit more than I liked reading, and apparently so did Zelda. We were in the Studio Ghibli section for a while, chatting about anything and everything. As we picked out DVDs, we talked about our plans for next Friday. That Friday, was of course, February 14th. The dance. Hooray and all that shit I guess. You didn't have to come with a date, but that didn't mean you couldn't have a date. I had already kind of decided with the rest of my friends that we'd come as a group, so I was going to ask Zelda if she wanted to join us then.

"Zelda," I said.

"Hm? What is it Link?" She answered.

"I was wondering if you could join the group again this coming up Friday for the dance. We're all going so…" I trailed off. Though I was able to get it out faster, sending a text invitation was a lot easier than asking in person. Just before she could respond, someone rounded the corner.


	19. Chapter 19

I swear, Marth has some sort of sixth sense when it comes to tracking down Zelda.

"Hey. I thought I might find you here," he said. He was completely ignoring me. "The new store opened up, so I thought maybe I'd come check it out. Also, I might run into you, which I did. Anyways," he continued. "I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the dance on Friday." My first thought, was _Dammit. _He was completely calm, unlike me. Marth obviously had the upper hand here, with superior skills in academic circles and in social ones. Even though my friends weren't considered nerds, we weren't exactly at the top of the social pyramid. Not that we cared.

"Um, actually, Link just asked me to join him and his friends, and I was already planning on going with him so…"

"Right. Of course," he said. His voice was understanding and directed at Zelda, but his eyes shot daggers at me over the top of her head.

"Also, Ike is going to give me a general idea of the math finals. I'll write it down and text it to you, even though it's a bit early for finals studying," Marth said.

"Heh, wow, thanks," Zelda said. As Marth went downstairs, Zelda turned back to me.

She must have noticed my sour face, because she said, "You two don't like each other, do you? I mean, I've always kind of guessed this, but still."

"Yeah, we aren't exactly, how do I put this? Accustomed to on another," I answered.

"So, if I said, 'That's really too bad,' especially if I meant it, it would bother you, right?"

"Exactly," I said.

To my surprise, she smiled and said, "Boys are so dense."

"Well, in my defense, girls are complicated," I countered. Zelda laughed, and after another second I was laughing too.

After our giggling died down, she asked, "Who's a complicated girl you know?" That stopped me short. I had to think for a moment about how I was going to say this.

"Well, this girl was someone from middle school," I started. "Her name was Ilia. Smartest girl in the 7th grade."

"Sounds like a different version of me," Zelda said.

"Actually, your personalities are a lot different- hey, did you just call yourself the smartest girl in the grade?" I asked.

"Noooo?" She answered.

"Yes, you did. Now let me continue-"

"Ooh, is it story time? Link, what are you going to tell us today?" Sheik said.

"More importantly, I just saw 'Math' going downstairs. That proves a little damn 'problematic,'" Samus added.

"Why don't you guys like Marth?" Zelda asked. "It's not like he's done anything to you guys." All eyes except for Zelda's traveled over to me, but Zelda's gaze eventually followed.

Reflet was of course the first to speak. "It's because Link li-" Four hands camped over her mouth as fast as you could say "dragon."

"Hey, I thought it was a good time to spill it. I mean, Pit and Viridi over here just decided they were going to get together and-"

"Hold on. What about Pit and Viridi?" I asked.

"Well, we decided that it was time. I mean, Palutena will be disappointed, but I guess me and Viridi were inevitable," Pit said.

"Yes. Er I mean, what I meant is, this would probably benefit both of us. It's not because I like him or anything, but having a deep relationship with someone is important," Viridi said.

"Daaaaw, you're making me all choked up," Chrom said in a faux doting voice.

"It's nothing compared to them," Samus said, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. She had gestured to Lucina and Robin, who were walking arm in arm for about the fiftieth time this week.

"Hey, don't judge us because we like each other!" Lucina complained.

"Hush. She was only using us as an example," Robin said. Chrom was looming over them in half a second.

"I swear to the great dragon Naga that if you turn into one of those couples who says, 'Oh, we like this,' or 'We always do that,' then I will shoot you," he threatened.

"Goddammit, Chrom. If I turned into one of those girls, I would hand you the gun," Lucina answered.

"Good," Chrom said, while the rest of the group burst into laughter.

As we were in line to purchase our items, Zelda asked me, "When are you going to tell me about this Ilia person?" She asked. I guess she still remembered that.

"I'll tell you later," I answered finally.


	20. Chapter 20

"Oh, for fricks sake, hurry the hell up or else we'll be late," Samus called from downstairs.

"Child, hush for a moment and have patience," Sheik said.

"Patience is a virtue that I'm pretty sure no one in this cult posses," Reflet said.

"This is a cult?" Zelda asked. "Anyways, Link! Can I come upstairs?"

I jumped. "S-sure!" I called back. I heard the soft tap of ballet flats on wood as Zelda made her way upstairs and into my room.

"This is definitely a cult!" Reflet called after Zelda.

"Wow, you're room is awesome," she breathed. I couldn't focus on that though. All of my attention was on Zelda wearing a shiny red dress. It had ribbon-like shoulder straps, with a small line of lace lining them. The top of the dress had tiny folds of fabric wrapping around it, each strip overlapping the one below it. The skirt was sewn tightly to the waist of the dress, then flayed out all around her legs, stopping short at her knees. It was as if someone had taken a rose, cut off the stem entirely, then turned it upside down so it could act as the skirt of the dress. Finally, to top off the outfit, she had a thin silver belt, and black ballet flats with silver squares on the left side of her toes. On her head was a red headband with a silver buckle, which held back wavy hair falling to the small of her back. She had on a touch of bluish, silver eyeshadow, and a little bit of red lip gloss.

"You look... beautiful," I managed, though that didn't even come close to describing her. "But I always imagined you wearing purple, since that's the color of part of your battle outfit," I finished.

"Well, too bad for you. I'm wearing red," she said. Her cheeks looked even redder than normal with the makeup to add to her blush. "And.. Thank you for the compliment. You look quite handsome yourself!"

"Thank you," I said. Getting dressed up wasn't uncommon. Mundane high schools have Prom, we make a big deal out of Valentine's Day. When we came downstairs, Pit asked, "So, did anything happen while you two were upsta-"

To my surprise, Reflet was the one to smack him. She wore a black dress with one strap sweeping over her shoulder. She had a purple bow sewn on to the dress above her right hip, with purple shoes to match. But she slapped Pit for a different reason than I'd thought.

"Hey, I'm supposed to ask that question. I'm the human matchmaker here, a tactician to behold," Reflet complained.

"Hippity hoppity, we are not your property, last time I checked," Samus replied, saving me the trouble of calling her out myself. She had on a sleeveless aquamarine dress that had a simple shape, a pink belt, and a pair of blue shoes matching her dress. Viridi wore a sleeveless Victorian style dress, but without all the ruffles lace and fancy patterns. The entire thing was a deep, solid pink, and the skirt of the dress was covered in swirling black ribbon, which almost seemed to represent a tree. Lucina wore a dress that was held up with a loop strap that came around her neck. It was dark blue with gold lining at the edges of the skirt. The guys and I were all wearing different tuxes.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I'm the one who should own your souls," Viridi said. "I'm a goddess, after all."

"Agree to disagree. You were named after the goddess of nature from the Kid Icarus mythology, due to your striking resemblance in appearance and everything else. Same with all of us," Sheik countered.

"Yeah, but while some of us are goddesses, some of us are descended from time-traveling, boat. bird, and horse riding, shapeshifting heroes that repeatedly share the same soul as each other," I finished. There was a pause before everyone started laughing and applauding.

I bowed and said, "Thank you, thank you. Oh please that's enough! I don't deserve quite this much gratitude!"

"Are you kids ready to go?" My Uncle asked as he came over to the front door where we were standing.

"Yeah!" We all shouted.

"Well, aren't you enthusiastic. Have fun!" He called. We all rushed off in the direction of the school.

"Hey my shoe came off!" Zelda complained.

The rest of the group paused as I jogged back to where Zelda had stopped. She was about to sit down on the curb to put her shoe back on when I stopped her.

"Let me. Wouldn't want that pretty dress of yours to get dirty," I said kneeling down to pick up the shoe. She lifted her foot off the pavement and I held up her footwear. I didn't notice Lucina slowly pull out her cell phone until I had placed Zelda's shoe back on her foot and suddenly heard the click of a camera.

When I turned around, Lucina tried her best to look completely terrified.

"Eeek! Don't hurt me, please!" She begged in a false pleading voice.

"You're SO texting that picture in the group chat later," Samus whisper shouted.

"You're not helping!" Sheik whisper shouted to Samus.

"Oh, I won't hurt you. I'LL KILL YOU," I threatened, while holding back laughter due to humor and embarrassment.

"Hurry then! To the safety of the school! Don't let your shoes slow you down!" Pit declared and began racing towards the school once again.

"RRAAAWR! I'm Wolf Link now!" I shouted. All the girls let out fake shrieks and raced after Pit. The rest of the boys followed, with me chasing after them. I'm sure we woke up half the neighborhood as we laughed down the street to where the music was vibrating the windows.


	21. Chapter 21

This isn't prom, and it's not just a school dance either. There are some random slow dances mixed into the latest hits, and some music from all around the world.

"I forgot to tell you!" Pit shouted over the noise of the party. "Miss Palutena told me she was just toying with me the whole time! She said that she picks one student every year to do this to, and that I was 'lucky student number seven.'"

"Wow, that's immature. Pretty thotty," Samus said.

"Woah, language," Sheik jumped in.

"Oh, frickity fuck this shit. No one cares!" Reflet said.

"Okay, that escalated quickly," Chrom said. Suddenly, a song from America came on. I realized it was "Shut Up and Dance with Me."

Without missing an opportunity for a pun, I said, "Shut up and dance!"

Laughing, we all ran to the edge of the stage where everyone else was, and began to dance with the huge crowd. After a number of songs, me and Zelda declared we were both thirsty. The rest of the group said they were fine, and said they'd keep dancing. At the huge snack bar, I bought C.C. Lemon, which is basically carbonated lemonade from Japan, and _totally not_ an addiction. Zelda bought a regular Sprite and some Pocky.

"Let's go outside, where it isn't as crowded!" Zelda shouted to be heard.

"Sure!" I yelled back. "I know a way to the roof!"

"Sounds fun!" On the roof, we could just see the sun setting over the tree line. The snap of me and Zelda opening our cans and the rumble of the vents a few yards away were the only sounds heard for a few minutes. Being alone with Zelda would usually make me nervous, but this time, I felt completely calm. Must have been party buzz or something.

"So, how did you find out about the path to the roof?" Zelda asked.

"Oh, well, Robin showed me it because he said he and Lucina come up here often," I answered.

Zelda giggled, "Oh those two."

The roof was once again without voices. It was cooler on top of the school than on the ground or inside. A gust of cool wind blew across the black material that covered the roof. I was wearing a suit, so I was fine, but it must have chilled Zelda's bare shoulders, because she shivered.

"You cold?" I asked.

"A little. But I don't want to go back inside," she responded. She eyed me shyly, glancing at the suit's jacket. Suddenly, I felt Zelda tug the sleeve of my jacket off my arm, and wrap the right side around her. I sat rigid and unmoving, as if making the slightest motion would shatter the scene. Zelda, sitting so close to me that our shoulders pressed against each other.

"H-hey! Don't be so stiff, this is embarrassing for me, too… but at the same time…" Zelda trailed off.

"Calming?" I finished for her.

"Yeah, you could call it that. I know this is really cliché, but I've been wanting to sit with you like this for a while. I mean, I didn't realize it at first, but I probably… wanted this since that first day in the courtyard," she explained.

"I guess… you could say it's the same for me. Though, I realized it during Christmas break," I said, thinking back.

"The same for me actually. It was after having a conversation with my mother."

"Wow, she seems like a great person compared to your father. Hey, how about I tell you about Ilia now?"

"What? You wanna talk about another girl when were like this?" She asked gesturing to the two of us wrapped in my jacket. "Besides, I think that's a story for the whole group to hear."

"You're right," I said standing up. Zelda shrugged my coat off her shoulders, and I put my arm back into the sleeve. "Let's go back inside so I can tell everyone."

"Wait! Umm… since we, you know, told each other, like, how we feel, shouldn't we hook arms… kind of like Robin and Lucina?" Zelda forced the words to form.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the one offering gestures. I'm the guy here."

"Too bad. You snooze, you lose."

"But I wasn't sleeping!" I complained.

Laughing, we linked arms, then walked back into the school. Our arms still hooked together, we rounded the corner to the doors leading back into the auditorium. Running straight into Marth. He took one look at our tightly knitted elbows and uttered six words.

"May I talk to Zelda alone?"

Of course I let Marth talk to her. I was a nice guy. Besides, it gave me time to round up my friends so we could all eavesdrop together. What I had missed with my "Waifu Time," (as my friends called it. Real original, guys) was Sheik and Samus deciding to date (no surprise there). But they ignored giving further explanation when I told them what was going on at the moment. As we neared the conversation spot, the group slowed so we could listen without getting caught.

"... fair. I met you this summer, and I immediately knew I liked you. I've given you so many hints and notions, but nothing got through," Marth was saying.

"I didn't know what those were! How was I supposed to know? I never had a mother to teach me about that kind of stuff-"

"But you still chose him over me," Marth cut Zelda off. "How did you figure out you liked Link?"

"Because he taught me! Him, Lucina, Samus, all of them! But Link, he's the one who made me the person I am today. That happy person you saw at camp and see in school is now 100% sincere. It was all thanks to that group, a wonderful, annoying, amazing group of complete awkwardness and laughter that showed me how to make a home and be truly happy with myself. I owe him everything. I owe them all everything, really…" Zelda trailed off into tears. I didn't realize I meant that much to her now. I stepped out from behind my hiding spot around the corner, and wrapped my arms around Zelda's shoulders. She rested her forehead on my chest and continued to sob. Marth simply turned and left, in deep thought.

"Hey now," I said quietly, as Zelda's hiccups died away.

"Thank you," she whispered. I then felt two more arms wrap around Zelda, across her midsection.

"You're welcome," Lucina said. Eventually, the whole group was huddled around this one girl.

As we pulled away, Reflet said, "Time to redo your makeup, Princess Zelda. We've still got a whole night ahead of us!"


	22. Chapter 22

"Look out!" I shouted. I rolled in front of Zelda, blocking Marth's side smash.

"Thanks Link!" She called back. It was the final round of the Smash Tournament. On my team was Sheik, Samus, Zelda, and me. Sheik and Samus weren't participating in the final round. It was me and Zelda vs Marth and Roy, a one stock battle. It had been a blur of swords and sparks of magic so far. Roy was fairly winded by now, and me and Zelda were closing in on him.

"Now!" I commanded. Zelda teleported using Farore's Wind, knocking Roy to the ground.

She scooped him up in a grab and called, "Ready!"

"Hyaah!" I uttered a sound of exertion as I let out a powerful sideways smash, which blasted Roy out of Zelda's hands and straight into the barrier.

"Yes! One down, one to go!" Zelda shouted triumphantly. We each had taken a fair bit of damage, however. Taking out Marth would be a difficult challenge.

"Alright. Let's do it!"

"Well, guess it's two on one then. I never thought I'd be on a side opposing you, Zelda," Marth said, shifting the grip on his sword. Facing each other, our blades were on the same side, with me being left handed, and he right handed.

"Go," I said to Zelda. She jumped upward, and I dashed forward, Marth racing to meet me in the center of the stage. It was a blur of movement and flashing metal. We did land some hits on each other, but nothing significant, merely grazing a shoulder or wrist. I'd watched Marth during his battle with Bowser and his followers. I was looking for the slightest falter in his pattern, in the moment he charged Shield Breaker. Suddenly, he pulled back into that very move. I had anticipated it and rolled backward, calling "Zelda!"

"Got it!" She answered. Din's Fire exploded in front of where Marth stood. He's stopped his move just in time to raise his shield and block the attack. This, however, was exactly what we'd wanted. As soon as Marth guarded, I fired my hookshot and pulled him into a grab. The sky darkened as Marth began to call on his final smash.

"We'll have none of that," I chided him.

Marth smiled and said "I'm impressed," a second before Zelda's light arrow whizzed by my head and drove Marth into the barrier. The exhaustion of the battle finally caught up to me as Zelda ran over to me. I leaned on my sword, and Zelda leaned against my back, giving me a wink.

"The Champions of this year's Smash Tournament are Sheik, Samus, Zelda, and Link!" Camii and Mimii happily announced over the loudspeaker. The spectators cheered, including all of my friends. Pit and Viridi hadn't participated, and I'd beaten Reflet, Robin, Lucina, and Chrom earlier. As I clasped my right hand with Zelda's left, and we waved at the crowd, a sense of unease filled me.

"Shouldn't we be getting warpped out by no-"

There was only a whoosh and a whoom as a fist shrouded in purple mist edited on Zelda's side. If we were affected by injuries in battle like the real world, Zelda would most certainly have shattered ribs from the impact. As look of surprise flooded her face just before she was launched into the barrier. Slowly, I turned to see who her attacker was.

"Now the real final battle begins," Principal Ganondorf said. "I want to see that Final Smash of yours at least one time before I defeat you."


	23. Chapter 23

I dodged the first few blows. They were slow, but the wind they gave off as I sidestepped them told me everything about their power. I rolled back, and landed a good blow. As he fell towards the barrier located below the Final Destination, he used his recovery. I hadn't anticipated the full use of this move, because as he rose up, he grabbed means pushed off of me as if he was kicking off a wall. I had built up enough damage from my previous fight, and with that on blow, I was sent sailing to the right. The shimmering surface signaling the end of the stage flew closer to me every second. It was just enough time for me to call up my Final Smash. Ganondorf knew it wouldn't work, and he smirked. My Smash only went directly forwards. But as the sky darkened and the line of light drew out in front of me, a transparent image of Zelda appeared. She smiled warmly, and grabbed the end of the light as if it were an arrow. Mimicking her movement, I gasped and shuddered as my mind willed the direction of my smash downwards, right at the Principal. As soon as the line was at his chest, I let go of the light and flew right at Ganondorf. But he had charged his his Final Smash as well. Continuing to move forward, I sliced straight through the huge head of Ganon as it came rushing at me. When the dust cleared, I was looking at Ganondorf again.

"That's one out of sixteen hits," I said, my voice vibrating with strength as my sword continued to glow with rainbow colored flame. Then I pulled back and brought my blade down to complete the final movements.

_Graduation, Another Semester Later_

"So, we won the Smash Tournament again," I mused.

"Yes, we did. Though, without the amazing final clash against a great enemy," Zelda responded. We were back on the roof, this time in caps and gowns instead of fancy attire. The sun was setting again, and cicadas rattled loudly in the nearby trees.

"Well, I still think that deserves some kind of reward-" she gently placed a soft finger on my lips to silence me.

Moving her hand away, she said, "Shhhh… I was just getting to that." She leaned in closer. We were inches apart when suddenly the door to the roof was flung open with a loud bang, making us jump apart.

"_There _you two are! I told Chrom you'd be here, but did he listen? Nooo! He thought you'd be… Am I interrupting something?" Reflet said eyeing the two of us.

"Well, if you got that long of a statement in, then it's nothing important," Zelda answered, standing up. "C'mon, Link. Let's go join the others," she said, reaching out an open palm with a smile.

"Sure," I said, and grabbed her hand.


	24. Epilogue

Ganondorf was fired as soon as I had knocked him off the screen and we returned to the waiting room. I was greeted by a flustered Zelda, a group of worried friends, and a few proud/angry teachers. Angry at me trying to fight the former best Smash fighter in history, and proud because I was now the best fighter. Camii, Mimii, Palutena, and Ike each gave me a congratulations before they grabbed the Principal and took him outside, where there were police cars waiting for him. I wondered why there was a need for police, when Palutena came forward and admitted, in a panic, she'd called she'd dialed 911. I laughed, because we couldn't physically get hurt in a Smash battle. Suddenly the group parted, and Marth steeped through the opening to face Zelda and I.

"I'm sorry I hurt you guys," he apologized. "But I'd like to ask… do you think we could still be friends?" My shoulders relaxed.

"Since Zelda and I are dating now, sure," I agreed, and everyone laughed.

When we had taken our new homeroom seats next fall, in the beginning of our third year, King Dedede had an announcement.

"Everyone, please welcome Caeda. She's new to our school," he explained, gesturing to a girl with long blue hair and lapis colored eyes.

"Hello, everyone," she said. I turned to my left in time to see Marth's eyes widen, and a small blush rise to his cheeks.

Leaning over, I whispered, "Now you know how I felt."

At graduation at the end of our third school year, I was labeled Valedictorian. Me and my friends stayed up late a few nights before the ceremony on a Google Doc weighting my speech. I was especially grateful for Sheik's help. The guy has a way with words. I got word that Principal Ganondorf was sent to a mental institution, so his lust for power could be dealt with. No one knows for sure. I'd wondered for a while what had changed the guy. I'd seen him earlier this summer, and he was perfectly fine. Stern, but kind. Palutena said it might have been the fact that I was such a skilled fighter. It may have caused him to worry about his title, which to him, could have monopolized his idea of power, and that's what provoked him to attack me. As I said before, no one really knows. Mimii became the new Principal, and on career day, after all of my friends had gone, I entered her office.

"So Link. After college, what are you going to be?" Mimii said, rocking forward in her chair.

"Well, I was thinking of Smashing professionally," I started. "But then, I realized with all this talent, I could do something more." I smiled as I finally said my thought out loud.

"I'm going to be a teacher. Either for gym here or for art," I replied, and Mimii nodded.

"Art and Smash are both things you have great talents for, and are good ways of expressing oneself. They suit you," she agreed. "Now, go enjoy your summer. Your time of youthful mistakes remains."

"Youthful mistakes, huh?" Zelda asked as we walked away from the school to meet our friends. The whole group was heading into town to celebrate. Caeda and Marth were coming too, which surprised us. Usually they spent a lot of time together alone.

"I don't think I made any mistakes," she mused.

"Hmm? Why not?" I asked. We paused, turning to face each other.

"Because everything lead to me being with you," she replied. I couldn't take it. I leaned down and kissed her.

I heard her bag drop to the ground, and we stayed like that for a few more moments until I pulled back to look her in the eye. Her face was flushed pink, and her eyes shined with affection.

Blushing myself, I managed to stammer, "I'll do what no hero has done before. I will protect your heart."

Zelda smiled, the same kind of smile like when we first met, only a million times brighter. "Okay, my hero."


End file.
